UGLYM3N

it all started on a drowsy, sleepy friday (27th feb) morning when i casually took up my phone and dialed paul, my half brother, i asked him whether he could help me buy jason mraz live concert ticket, as i only came to know the concert less than two weeks ago. since he is a die-hard mraz fan and has stuck mraz’s tunes in his ears since early 2003. well, i did not expect myself to be in kl the following week anyway…

me: paul, u sure go to see mraz one, bought how much one ticket? can buy the cheapest one for me (rm88)?
paul: oh.. i think rm88 sold out liao loh… i bought seated one.

me: wa… expensive la over rm200…
paul: wait wait… (talking to some one bside him)

me: so how ah?
paul: u come kl for holiday la and we can watch together, i buy you the ticket la…

me: wtf… u serious? no need la…
paul: come come… come la knnccb, so long no see you. dont worry the ticket la.

me: ok ok sure…

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*good old puppy still sleeping when i walked pass her at 7am

* wat happened to the airport? some UFO landed?

well, here am i, in kl, 5 days later. i coundnt remember when was the last time i had a holiday. since early 2008. i was actually quite excited since the night before boarding my flight here after 1am at flamengo, went home and could not sleep at all. there was only one thing i miss after landing, i wish silver was here.

arrived 9.20am in kl, took in-flight breakfast (not bad to be frank), then skybus to kl sentral, first stop was a coffee bean where i took my own sweet time to finish the whatever-it-is-called blended drink, it was really relaxing as i could feel i just literally dumped everything behind in alor star and revitalising myself here. hmm…. eh…. infact, coffee bean was the only stop i made there. you just coundnt understand how much i missed the coffee, yeah yeah, there are coffee beans in penang, sp, wherever (for those who dont know, kampung alor star no have coffee bean one) i know, but my work does not permit me to travel at all.

around 2pm, i boarded the lrt to pasar seni, where i never been before in my entire life, but heard people saying many cheap knock-offs stuff there… so i bought a pair of sunglasses and fake lv bag… ate a bowl of prawn mee minus the prawn which is reasonably priced. later spent around 45 minutes at popular bookstore

*infront of masjid jamek lrt station

4.30pm lrt to masjid jamek (or watever the spelling is) waiting for paul to pick me up.

*most important piece of paper of the day

5.45pm….damn, that mutherfxcker got a new car.. got to meet edward (met in alor star), and a cool guy eugene from penang, they are all colleagues with paul. we drove by stadium negara and at 6pm already so loooooooooooong the queue. paul said, u see, smart people buy seated ones, those queuing up are free standing infront of the stage, we got our seat booked… that reminded me of the BEYOND concert i attended in 1991 at the same venue, where i almost suffocated in front the stage, seeing people fainting, vomitting, shoving, screaming, and… did not enjoy the music myself.

*double, triple parking?

6.30pm we ate some noodles at some road side stalls, which tasted like what i cooked at home…nothing special.

*back – me / paul, front – eugene / edward

7.30pm we reached the venue and damn, it was so so so fucking hot inside, what happened to the air cond? there were mraz t shirts selling as expected…at sky high price, anyway, i didnt think they got my size.

*8.15pm

8.30pm lights off show starts. it has been so long i did not pen long blog entries til i cant recall many words to use now. mraz was simply amazing as once the show started, we almost forgot about the humid, sweat, and thirst. i am so glad that paul bought one of the best seats in the venue. just fine to listen on the whole (balancing, loudness), comfy, and no need to shove here there. together with mraz were drummer, bassist, horn sections (three), keyboardist, and partner-in-crime toco rivera.

the crowd started singing with mraz from song number 1 to the very last beat of the concert, this was really crazy, even i cant remember all the lyrics. mraz is one of the very best, and few entertainers, espcially with his stage presence and sexy voice.

its a shame he lost out, just, on the grammy to john mayer. however, who cares, he made my trip so so so worthy that i will bang my head on the wall til i die if i did not come.

*my RM700 two year old canon just couldnt make it to the front

not many international live acts i have been to…hmm… BEYOND (1991, 1993, 1994, 1996, 2005), gloria esterfan (1990,91?), but jason was just simply too outstanding from what i have seen so far, live, or on dvd of other artistes…

*some white chicks beside edward and me kept on screaming geek in the pink!

one funny thing at the concert was special guest penny tay duno go where liao when mraz was singing Lucky, and she came up to the stage just right before her part in the song. like many others said in the forum, including all my friends who went there, it was a total miss-matched.

*special guest penny tay (photos from chinapress.com.my)

the song could have been better if jason were to sing alone. not saying penny sounded bad, but jason was simply too good and blown penny away.

the concert was pretty short, about 90minutes, but there wasnt a single second that i failed to enjoy.

i took a video of “i’m yours” and you can see thousands of fans singing together. the attendance was just below 10,000 my guess. (i’ve uploaded the clip on youtube, see above)

*goodbye stadium negara…

10pm i followed paul and eugene back to their office, where i witness their data room, wahaha… including uglymen.net also stored there, paul is a no-nonsence kick ass guy and he is more than deserved of what he is today by climbing the corporate ladder to higher grounds, patiently, diligently, and smartly, i am really proud of him, make me feel so paise to what i have achieved…sigh….. after this holiday must go back work hard liao…

11.30pm back to paul’s house where ah siong (long-lost brother, hehehehe) is also staying there, we chatted many things, catching up some pre-historic stories of us.

12.45am went out for dinner (i mean supper).

*siong and me waiting MU to start at paul’s place…

2.45am waiting to see MU kick newcastle’s butt…

3.45am watch MU with ah siong, paul went to zzzz awhile

5.15am match not ended, but i have to catch my flight back liao. paul drove me to airport together with siong

6am reached lcct, waved good bye…

7.15am flight delay…

7.30am flight delay…again

8am flight delay bcos of heavy fog

8.35am finally took off….

when i reached alor star, i only realised that i havent slept for over 40 hours since waking up 11am tuesday morning.

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nice time with edward, eugene, siong and the gang.

thank you paul for the holiday